Southern Missouri Bancorp (NASDAQ:SMBC) Reaches New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBC) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $70.48 and last traded at $70.7540, with a volume of 103335 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $69.00.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SMBC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Southern Missouri Bancorp from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $71.00 target price (up from $68.00) on shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $76.00 target price (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Southern Missouri Bancorp from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.67.

Southern Missouri Bancorp Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $768.98 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.65 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $67.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.25.

Southern Missouri Bancorp (NASDAQ:SMBC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The savings and loans company reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $50.25 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.98 million. Southern Missouri Bancorp had a return on equity of 12.05% and a net margin of 21.36%. On average, research analysts expect that Southern Missouri Bancorp, Inc. will post 6.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Missouri Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Southern Missouri Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.69%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Richard Windes sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.47, for a total transaction of $136,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 5,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $368,026.25. This trade represents a 27.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 15.81% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Southern Missouri Bancorp by 2.8% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 440,839 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $28,187,000 after buying an additional 11,946 shares in the last quarter. FJ Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. FJ Capital Management LLC now owns 300,944 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $15,818,000 after purchasing an additional 18,002 shares during the period. Clayton Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at $16,579,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp by 29.2% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 275,909 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $16,312,000 after purchasing an additional 62,355 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp by 10.3% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 275,411 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $14,476,000 after purchasing an additional 25,751 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 49.49% of the company’s stock.

Southern Missouri Bancorp Company Profile

Southern Missouri Bancorp, Inc (NASDAQ: SMBC) is a bank holding company headquartered in West Plains, Missouri, serving as the parent of Southern Bank. The company focuses on delivering community banking services to individual and commercial customers across southern Missouri and northern Arkansas. It operates branch offices in local markets and provides a comprehensive suite of deposit and lending products tailored to both urban and rural communities.

Through its subsidiary, Southern Bank, the company offers deposit products such as checking and savings accounts, money market accounts and certificates of deposit, alongside digital and mobile banking platforms.